2.15.2014

Yesterday Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party of Canada, responded to my post about Andrew Weaver's support for David Black's proposal to built a refinery in Kitimat. It took Elizabeth a few days to respond because she was away in Washington DC "working to stop the Keystone pipeline."

Her response was very congenial and well focused. In opening, she said she appreciated my concern and reminded me that "The Green Party of BC is completely separate from the Green Party of Canada." Adding that, "Andrew Weaver has not endorsed any refinery." And that, "The media reports have over-stated and misrepresented his position."

Elizabeth went on to say, "What needs to be made very clear is that the Green Party of Canada and BC support the 1972 moratorium, oppose any supertankers on our coastline, that we are working to ensure the oil sands exploitation is brought into line with environmental standards and carbon reduction, which means that going from the nearly 2 million barrels of oil a day to 6 million barrels of oil a day, as espoused by Stephen Harper, is simply not on. We oppose any pipelines through First Nations territory without their consultation and support and we oppose disturbing sensitive wilderness between Kitimat and Alberta. We oppose putting bitumen mixed with diluent in pipelines in any direction."

i'm posting this here, with her permission, because IMO it concisely summarizes the Green Party of Canada's position on this issue.

Victoria Cross, Director of Operations at BC Green Party, also responded to my article but, as i've not confirmed with her whether or not her comments are for publication, i'll not publish or comment on them. Andrew Weaver himself has not responded to my 13 points directly, though i welcome him to at any time as i'm always happy to entertain any well reasoned anti-thesis and change my mind if/when it needs changing.

As i said on Feb. 9th, "Elizabeth May has worked hard for years to establish the Green Party's credentials." She deserves the respect she gets both here and abroad, she doesn't deserve to have her or her national party's positions tainted by this.

To close i want everyone to understand i'm not a member of either the provincial or national Green Party, or any political party anywhere. The thoughts and opinions expressed here on The Mud Report are my own. One of those opinions is that Elizabeth May is a dedicated and hard working person who's positions, though i don't always agree with them totally, are well thought out and attempt to serve the best interests of us all.

La Via Campesina is the international movement which brings together millions of peasants, small and medium-size farmers, landless people, women farmers, indigenous people, migrants and agricultural workers from around the world. It defends small-scale sustainable agriculture as a way to promote social justice and dignity. It strongly opposes corporate driven agriculture and transnational companies that are destroying people and nature.

Sitting Up Mud

"Bokonon made mud. Bokonon said to some of the mud, "Sit up!" "See all I've made, the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars."

And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud. I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job Bokonon had done.

"Nice going, Bokonon. Nobody but you could have done it, I certainly couldn't have. I feel very unimportant compared to You. The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even get to sit up and look around. I got so much, and most mud got so little. Thank you for the honor!"

Now mud lies down again and goes to sleep. What memories for mud to have! "What interesting other kinds of sitting-up mud I met! I loved everything I saw! Good night. Amen."

Quotes

"Our dreams draw us foward, as water whispers to the dowser's wand."- Tony Cohan

"Religion is not merely the opium of the masses, it's the cyanide." - Tom Robbins

"Politics is how you live your life, not who you vote for!" -Jerry Rubin

"The pencil is mightier than the pen"- Robert Pirsig

"Resist much, obey little." -Walt Whitman

When the axe came into the woods, many of the trees said, “At least the handle is one of us.” — Turkish proverb

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction" - Pascal

"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair

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Flying Spagetti Monster Church

The single greatest service each of us can provide to our planet, our families and ourselves is to grow our own organic food from heritage seeds. Then to save our own seed in turn, and in so doing be part of the future solution to the present day destruction being sown by GMO's, agri-business and the bio-technology giants. - Bob Wiley